Rise Of An Empire: Punky's Log
by Lily and her tramps
Summary: When my sister brought home a book on Celestia, I expected it to be another boring narrative of Celestia's long and glorious life. Instead, it started a war. T for minor violence so far, which is likely to escalate, and possibly cursing. And Celestia-bashing. I hope My Little Lunar Republican enjoys this.
1. The Book

**_Roughly One Thousand Years Ago:_**

_As Celestia summoned the elements of harmony, Nightmare Moon gasped. She hadn't expected her sister to wield them against her, and when she realized her sister was serious, she __knelt low to the ground in a gesture of surrender._

_But it was too late._

_In a burst of blinding light, Nightmare moon was pulled into the far away moon. She dug in her hooves and pleaded with her sister, but to no avail. Her sorrowful tears were pulled to the earth as she was pulled into the night. One hoof faltered, and her legs fell from under her. She crashed flank-first through the stained-glass palace window behind her and released a final plea._

_"_Please_, sister! I'm sorry!"_

* * *

**_Eight Days Later:_**

_As Celestia left the Council hall, the young unicorn __Council member, Polity Clemence, followed after her. He knew that Nightmare Moon's - no, Luna's - banishment weighed heavily on the princess, and had an idea as to how he and the other Council member's could relieve the princess of her other worries, if only for enough time that she could come to terms with what she had needed to do._

_"Excuse me, Princess?" She turned her head to the green colt and sighed._

_"What is it, Polity? We are most tired from our duties and wish to rest." Seeing his opportunity, Polity galloped up to her side._

_"Yes, well Princess that is exactly what I was hoping to discuss with see, the other Council members and I were thinking about how difficult it must be for you to be ruling like this so soon after the loss of your dear sister, and I would like to offer the Council's services to rule Equestria in your stead to give you time to heal from your loss." Celestia turned to face him fully, and was quiet for a while._

_"Who of the Council supports this?"_

_"All three of us your majesty. We all wish to help you however we can." Celestia began to walk away and glanced back at Polity._

_"We would like the three of you to join us in the throne room tomorrow." The unicorn bowed with a barely contained air of excitement._

_"Yes, your majesty!"_

_The next morning, the three Council members, Lauren Order, Evan Hoofed, and Polity Clemence, walked in awe into the Princess' throne room. There were two guards at each window and door, and four by the splendorous princess herself. The three ponies bowed deeply to the Princess to whom they had dedicated their lives._

_"Polity Clemence," She began, in a tone that brokered no argument, "Lauren Order and Evan Hoofed, We, Princess Celestia of this realm Equestria, hearby sentence you to eternal exile to the Everfree Forrest." The three loyal ponies stood up from their knelt positions and searched their ruler for some hint of humor. They found none. "You have betrayed your country in an attempt to overthrow us, and as punishment are no longer of this country. You will never return to Equestria, under threat of Death." Polity stepped forward to plead for his fellow Council members, and Celestia rose from her throne. "Polity Clemence, come hither." He did, and knelt once again in front of the Princess._

_There was an echoing crack and a bloodcurdling, wretched scream as Celestia brought her hoof down on Polity's horn, shattering most of the length of it and leaving a broken half-horn behind. The unicorn rose and staggered, the aftershocks of the stabbing pain shooting through his blood and bones knocking him from his hooves. He fell down the steps to Celesta's throne, and Lauren wrapped a wing around the shaking, sobbing stallion._

_"Leave our Kingdom," Celestia said, her back to the former Council members. The exiled ponies bowed to their Princess, even Polity, whose hooves were still failing from the pain._

* * *

**Punky Print's Log; Day 1:**

Today, my sister, Inky Pie, brought home a book from the library. This wasn't really out of the ordinary, because my sister _loves_ to read, but this book was definitely different.

"Hey Punky," She said when she came in the house, "check out this book I found at the library!" I turned to see her holding up a large book with a title that read _The Comprehensive Equestrian History of Princess Celestia._ I rolled my eyes.

"Inky, _every_pony learns about the Princesses in their first year of school. Why is this _huge_ book on _one_ Princess so great? You already know everything in it." I turned back to the book I was writing and she galloped up to my desk and pushed the book on to it.

"No, this book is different," Inky insisted as she flipped through the pages with her ink black muzzle. "When the book talks about Nightmare Moon's imprisonment, there's something that isn't in any of the other books!"After finding the page, my sister pointed to a passage that described Nightmare Moon's surrender.

I picked up the book with my magic and brought it closer to my eyes to make sure I was reading it right. I checked again. And again.

"What the buck...?" I turned and came muzzle to muzzle with my sister's freckled blue face. "Is this legit?"

"It seems so, but there's no way to confirm it without asking either Princess Celestia or Princess Luna."

"Is the whole book like this?"

"Well, not all of is unconfirmed. There's parts that everypony knows, but they're cast in a really different light after reading the other parts." I closed the book and set it back down on my desk.

"Are you done with it yet?"

"No, but I should be by tomorrow."

"Okay, just don't stay up all night reading it," I said, even though I know she will.

"Sure. Night, Punky."

"Night, Inky."

I'm not sure what to do about this book. If what is written in it's pages is the truth, then I think Equestria needs to know. I think Inky Pie would agree. But the only way to know whether or not it's true is to ask the princesses themselves. I have an idea that might just work, but if it goes wrong, I'm not sure I should let Inky Pie help me.

I've been looking after my little sister since our dad was finally buried under the hooves of Manehattan, and I know better than to think she'd stay behind if I go to interrogate Celestia. She was always the truly brave one after all, the one who made herself known and heard no matter what the consequences.

The more I think on this, the more afraid I am.


	2. Cursive

**Punky Print's Log; Day 2:**

I most definitely shouldn't have told Inky Pie that I was hoping to confront Celestia.

"I'm coming with you," she said. I sighed, I knew better than to argue with my sister.

"Fine, but we're just going in, asking Celestia how much of the book is true, and leaving."

"After I buck her in the face." I sighed.

"_No,_ no bucking. We go in, get our answers, and get out."

"After I bite her."

"No _no_, no biting!"

"What about head butting? Can I head butt her? The headache would totally be worth it!"

_"No!_ No bucking, biting or head butting!" I took a breath to calm down from my outburst. "Frankly, it's a stealth mission. If anything, I just want you to stay hidden while I ask her about the book." She made a face. "I just don't want to get you in to trouble." She sighed.

"Yeah, I know, Punky. But we both know you need a defender, especially against ponies you don't know." I lowered my head, my olive eyes on my hooves. "Besides, I'll miss you if she exiles you without me," she joked. Even though she was joking, I think we both know that if this doesn't go well, Celestia might exile us. I wonder where we'd go. I don't think the book mentions where anypony but the Council ponies and Nightmare Moon went. They can't all be in the Everfree Forrest, Equestria has expanded beyond it now.

I wonder if Celestia broke the horns of all the exiled unicorns. I hope not, because I don't know how to write without it. Inky Pie can, being an earth pony she kind of had to learn. I don't think I'm clever enough to learn now, and I'm pretty sure breaking somepony's horn makes their magic unusable. I could be wrong, but just in case I need to find a way to write without a horn and without inconveniencing Inky Pie.

**Later:**

I'm teaching a rat to write.

He can already write out his name, Cursive. He forgets the u about a third of the time, but it's still good progress. I found Cursive in a bakery a few blocks from my apartment when I was going out for brain food. The baker offered a bag of doughnuts to me for taking the rat out of his store. Needless to say, I declined.

Cursive uses his tail to write, and it looks more like a brush than a quill is writing. It's beautiful and slanty and even if Celestia doesn't break my horn, it would be a waste of an incredible talent if Cursive didn't write.

_Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz_

We're practicing the alphabet. I wonder if I could teach him to talk. I don't think it's possible, but wouldn't that be incredible? A talking rat!

I wonder what he would say. Would he thank me for taking him out of the bakery? For teaching him to write? Or would he tell me he hates me? I took him out of the life he was living, plucked him up and put him in my saddlebag without his say so. For all I know, he was perfectly content to scurry around eating the baker's food. For all I know he hates writing. I imagine this is what Celestia feels like if the book is true. I need some milk.

_thank you __pnky_

There's warm milk all over the next page of my journal now. I didn't mean to, but I did a spit take. I guess I did okay though; with Cursive, I mean. That makes me really happy, I'm kinda proud of myself. I just hope I do okay when I go to confront Celestia. I'm not going to write out the plan before I do it, I'm too worried about what would happen if somepony read it.

I'm not going through with it until Cursive can write fluently, but I think I might just be a coward. I think I'm hiding behind that as an excuse, because I'm too scared to go do it. I wish I was strong. I'm starting to t**ea**r up, and it's getting harder t o write clearly. I ke ep thinking about all the ponies in the book; the ponies whose lives wer**e ru**ined, and how path etic it is that I, one of only two ponies to know what happened to the m, am too afraid to go and g**et **answers.

I'**m so** sorry I'm a coward.

And now some of the letters are smudged because I started crying on them. Wonderful.


	3. Breakdown

Guh. So long since I updated. I'm so ashamed. Review and tell me i'm a jerk, I know I deserve it.

...See what I did there? *slinks away*

* * *

**Punky Print's Log; Day 3**

I finished the book today. My sister and I will be the first to be exiled in a long time, but we definitely won't be the first ponies exiled somewhere that isn't the Everfree Forrest. The book mentions ponies being taken away, never to be seen again in Equestria. I don't know where we would be exiled to, a place isn't named in the book, but there are going to probably be hundreds of ponies, maybe thousands. Most of the exiles happened a long time ago, I wonder if some of the ponies there even know what their ancestors did.

I've resigned myself to exile, there's no way we'll get any less than that. But I'm still afraid. I just graduated from school last year, and Inky is still in her final year. With both of our parents dead we'll be left to fend for ourselves, wherever we're placed. All of our friends would be gone, and what would they know about what happened to us? Our story would be turned into a tale of traitors, and what would the ponies we care for so dearly think of us then?

I had a panic attack today. I kept calling it a mental breakdown, but Inky said that's the wrong word. I don't know what set me off - I usually never do - but suddenly my horn was gone. Celestia had destroyed it when we were exiled, and the guards were coming to get me, because we weren't supposed to go back home. I curled up in the shadows in my room, hoping my olive-green coat would blend in if all of the lights were out. Tears streamed down my face, I was so scared that I couldn't stop shaking.

I was curled up in the dark for hours until Inky-Pie came home from school.

"Punky? Where are you, sis?" A light came on in the hallway and I squeaked, terrified that the guards would find us if the lights came on, but too scared to move and turn them off. Inky walked to the open door to my room and looked in sadly. "Punky, what happened?" I hushed her.

"T-the guards...they'll _hear you,_" I hissed, still sobbing to the point that my tongue felt useless. Inky galloped quickly through the house, prepared to buck anypony in the house, even knowing there were no guards. After checking the house, she sat next to me and wrapped me up in a hug.

"What guards, Punky?"

"The- the ones the princess sent. W-we weren't su-supposed tuh c-c-come buh-back, bu-but we're huh-_here_."

"Punky," she said calmly, "there aren't any guards nearby. We weren't exiled, we haven't even talked to Celestia yet." I shook my head.

"Nuh-no, she said we can't go back. Can't go back, Inky..." I looked up at my worried sister. "Sh-she took muh-my h-horn, Inky. 'S gone, Inky," I whimpered, hooves in my mane, searching for my horn. "'S gone," I whimpered. "She took my horn...where's my horn? Can't find my horn..." I mumbled. Inky got up and I rocked back and forth in my corner until she brought over a mirror.

"Look, Punky," She said after placing it beside me on the floor, "your horn's still there. It's fine." I stared into my reflection, confused. I couldn't feel my horn whenI felt for it with my hooves, but in the mirror I could see it protruding from my blonde mane just as it always had. Inky wrapped me in a tight hug until I calmed down, and by then it was dark out side.

The rest of the evening went by without incident. Inky did her homework from school, we ate dinner, and everything was fine. Uncomfortable, but fine. I don't think either of us ever really know what to do after I freak out like I did. The sad thing is, Inky was the only one who was ever around for my breakdowns, even when our parents were still around. I think my dad was there once, but that just made it worse. He always scared me, especially when I was smaller. Inky just flat out hated him, but she never told him that. Maybe he scared her, too.

Inky and I went over the plan again, we're going through with it tomorrow. We're as ready as we'll ever be, all we can do now is hope Celestia doesn't do something too awful to us for confronting her.


	4. Exile

**Punky Print's log; Day Four**

So much has changed today.

I never thought things could change so much in a day, but I'm packing my things, and by nightfall I will be officially exiled. Inky is almost done saying goodbye to her friends. I don't know what I'll say to mine.

"Don't believe anything you hear," I'll say. "I've done nothing wrong." They might believe me now, but as they grow up everypony will tell them that they were just children, that they just didn't understand what happened. It would be so confusing, so alienating, maybe I won't say anything at all. Maybe it's better if they just believe what they hear, otherwise they might end up like me.

This morning, Inky Pie and I went to Canterlot. The city was huge, like a castle in and of itself. We got lost t one point, we couldn't tell one sparking building from another. We bumped into a purple unicorn about my age with her muzzle in a book, who was helpful enough to take us right to the castle. As we walked up the steps, the filly turned to us and introduced herself.

"My name's Twilight Sparkle, I'm Celestia's faithful student." I felt Inky Pie tense up behind me, but I smiled and the unicorn regardless.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, my name's Punky Print, and this is my sister, Inky Pie." Inky Pie kneed me with her front leg, making me fall back a bit.

"What are you doing,"Inky hissed, "telling her our _names?_" I shrugged.

"I dunno," I mumbled, "she seems nice..." Inky huffed and shook her head as we continued to follow Twilight. Once Twilight led us to the throne room, two grey unicorn stallions opened the doors without question. Inside, it was like a scene out of the book; the guards were all in the same place as they had been almost a hundred years ago when the Council was banished. It was eerie, and it made my legs shake.

"Princess, these are my new friends, Punky Print and Inky Pie." I winced at the word 'friends'. "They came to Canterlot all the way from Manehattan to speak to you about something urgent."

"Oh?" The sun Princess's voice was feather-light, and she greeted us with a smile.

"Um, yes," I cleared my throat in the hope that I could stop sounding as timid and unsure as I did. "We have some questions about Princess Luna," Celestia's smile flickered and her eyes went cold. I gulped and shrunk a bit against my will. "And the Pony Council." Celestia's false smile fell away, and she looked me dead in the eyes.

"Twilight, why don't you go study up on Starswirl the Bearded." Twilight nodded and waved to my sister and I as she left, oblivious to the tension in the throne room. The doors slammed shut behind Twilight. The guards stood alert by each window and door, and the ones by Celestia's throne had weapons at the ready. Celestia stood, proud, imposing and furious at the top of the tallest mountain, or so it seemed, and coldly stared us down.

"Where did you hear of these things?" Her voice was calm and cold, but deceptively so. Her glare felt like knives.

"We're not telling _you!_" Inky shouted. "It's all true, isn't it?! You banished those ponies, all of them, just because you wanted absolute control!" Celestia said nothing, and the guards all looked to her. "You _monster,_" Inky screamed, her voice echoing in the hall, "They bowed to you! They looked to you as their ruler and you _betrayed_ them!" Inky had leapt in front of me then, in a righteous fury. She scraped a hoof against the ground and made to charge. Four guards flew at us and restrained the both of us.

"Inky Pie and Punky Print, you are hereby sentenced to exile from Equestria, by punishment of death upon return." She smiled coldly as Inky shouted protests. "You have until nightfall to prepare and depart under guarded watch." As we were escorted out, Twilight came out of a grand library, carrying stacks of books with her magic. She looked worriedly to us, and I hung my head. I had only known her for a short time, but still the idea that Twilight will forever think of us as traitors makes me sad.

All of our things are packed, Inky and I have never had much of real importance to us. We will travel all night to the penitentiary colony where all the other exiled ponies made their home. By morning, we will be there, no longer citizens of Equestia, and forever known as criminals. Inky's finished saying goodbye to her friends, and we are as ready as we will ever be.

* * *

**AN: Oh ponies, really?! I haven't updated this in a month and this chapter ****isn't even one thousand words?! COME ON! But don't you fret My Little Ponies, I'll update again sooner next time.**


	5. Welcome Home

**Punky Print's Log: Day 5**

We arrived at the penitentiary colony today. It's somewhere deep in the Badlands, near where the dragons migrate to every year. There's a great stone wall around there the ponies live, it's there to keep the dragons out as much as it's there to keep the ponies in. There are guards on the wall that walk around patrolling for danger and rebellions. Most of them look at the ponies inside the walls as just criminals, and look down on us for more reason's than just the height difference provided by the walls.

When Inky and I walked through the Badlands this morning with our guards, we saw the colony guards' contempt firsthoof. When we walked through the barren, rocky wasteland, another type of inhabitant of the Badlands leapt of at us. It was a large wolf unlike any other. It's green eyes had blood-red slits for pupils, and across its eyebrows and up its forehead spiked bones protruded from its skin. Blood stained the fur around its mouth and eyes, and fresh wounds littered its skin. There were parts of this wolf, however, that lacked skin and muscle entirely, such as its undulating bony tail, two of its paws and one leg, and most disturbingly, its jaw was completely stripped of skin and muscle. There was a section of the wolf's ribs that was completely visible, including the throbbing lungs inside.

As soon as the wolf leapt out at us, our guards flew away, and none from the walls moved to help us. Inky ran at the wolf, but was quickly batted aside by the wolf's bony paw. It growled, a slight whistling through its jawbone did nothing to make the wolf unthreatening. It approached me slowly, its semi-skinless mouth curling into a repulsive smile. I wanted to run, or scream, but my fear of the creature paralyzed me. Inky was coming to woozily at my peripheral, and as she opened her eyes one at a time, the terrifying creature sniffed me once, twice, and turned away. It calmly walked back into the distance until it became a blurry spot.

Inky grabbed the black bow in my mane with her teeth and ran for the gate. The guards seemed content to keep the gate closed until a voice on the wall bellowed, "Open the gate, you idiots! What are you waiting for, an invitation?!"

The gates opened just in time for us to run in. The tears I had cried in fear had run dry, and I saw the wolf turn its eyes to the gate. I waved at the wolf with a small smile, all the thanks I could give it for sparing me before the gate closed with a violent _slam! _A broadly built brown pegasus flew down from the wall, a soft smile on his face. He flew up to my sister and landed at my side. Inky gave him a skeptical sidelong look, wary of the guards who did nothing to help us.

"That was very brave, what you both did," he said, his voice recognizable as the one that ordered the gates opened. "How did you know that the bone wolf wouldn't attack if you stayed still?" He turned to me along with Inky, who seemed curious as well.

"I... I didn't. I was just too scared to move." I looked down at my hooves, ashamed of my cowardice. The pegasus guard laughed, a warm loud sound without malice.

"I don't know," he said with a smile, "waving at the thing was pretty courageous!" I smiled, I didn't think much of waving at the wolf when I had done it. "I'm sorry the guards were taking so long to open the gate," he said remorsefully. Inky smiled up at him.

"It's okay, you got them to open it."

"Thanks," he said. "I'm just glad you two fillies are okay. My name's Brassheart, I'm the captain of the guards here. If you're ever in trouble, I'll be happy to help."

"Thank you," Inky and I said. Brassheart nodded and flew back to his post. As we looked at the village of exiles around us, we heard one of the other guards talking to Brassheart.

"What in the name of Celestia were you thinking, having us open the gate? They're just two orphan exiles, and if the bone wolf had gotten in it would have endangered all of us!" I looked up at the guard and Brassheart, who looked annoyed.

"It doesn't matter who they are or what they did," he said sternly, "We're here to protect them. They _deserve_ our protection, and if you don't think so, you're in the wrong job." The other soldier backed down, and only then did I realize just how large the stallion was. Despite living on our own, my sister and I are still just fillies, and I had only seen Brassheart as bigger than us, which most stallions were, until I was him intimidating the other soldier. Perhaps it would be narrow-minded of me to say that all of the guards of this colony are cruel and derisive. It just seems like all of them but Brassheart really don't care if any of us live.


	6. Tails to Tell

**Punky Print's Log: Day 6**

After Brassheart stood up for us to the other guards yesterday, Inky and I went and found a small wooden house with our names painted neatly by the door. Exhausted from walking since the evening before, we simply walked in, found beds, and slept until morning. Today, we went outside to explore the village around us.

Every house is like ours, a one-story wooden building with a name or two written on the side. The houses are basic, there is a kitchen in each with a table, a bathroom and a bedroom. There's a fourth room as well, which either functions as a second bedroom for families or a living room. Inky and I live in a house near the opening in the wall, and at the farthest reach of the wall is a cliff, which where the wall stops. The cliff drops down into the penitentiary colony, and directly at the bottom is a large farm. The name Starsight used to be painted there in a rich purple, but the ponies there now, Starsight's descendants, said that the name faded a while ago. Two new names are painted there now, Golden Grain and Wheaty Fields. They have a colt about my age, perhaps a few years older. He was the first exiled pony we met here.

"My great-great-grandmare was exiled here," he told us as he tossed a blue ball into the air with his yellow-gold magic. "She studied stars, and discovered that they're just like the sun, 'cept they're real far away. She figured if Luna lifted them and the moon into place every night, and Celestia only lifted the one, maybe Luna was stronger." He dropped the ball and began batting it up into the air with his yellow muzzle, his green mane flopping into his matching eyes. "I'm Lemon Grass. Why are you here?" Lemon Grass had begun to bat at the ball so fiercely that he began jumping up to hit it harder.

"My sister found a book about all the bad things Celestia did," I told him. This news didn't stop his bouncing, so I continued, "We went to Canterlot and confronted her about it." Lemon Grass' eyes went as wide as saucers, and the ball bounced off of his still muzzle.

"Huh?" He turned to size up my sister and I. "But, you're just little fillies. How'd _you_ go face a _Princess_?"

"Hey, watch it!" Inky shoved herself into the unicorn's personal space, her muzzle scrunched up in what she might have thought was an imposing way. "You're the same age as us, aren't you?! Besides, we already have our cutie-marks!" Sure enough, Lemon Grass' flank was like a blank page, whereas Inky Pie's flank was covered by a distinct ink blot pattern.

"Yeah, well what's your sister's supposed to be?" I looked to my curious flank with my sister and the butter yellow unicorn. I should probably explain that my cutie mark is likely the most ambiguous mark in recorded history. Two black loops - circles or ovals or maybe the symbol for infinity, nopony's really sure - are split down the middle by an arrow, or the point of a quill, or maybe a clock hand. The separate parts are already confusing enough, but together they could be a pair of closed scissors or a strange pen, or a knife. I'm not even sure what it is, or what caused it to appear. I don't remember the day it formed, only that it never washed off like a spill or a stain would have. I shrank back, and my sister stomped her hoof.

"It doesn't matter what it is, _she_ has one!" The colt snorted down at my sister, who proceeded to headbutt him.

"Hey, stop it you two!" Quickly I shoved my way between them, breaking up the beginnings of a fight. Lemon Grass sighed, visibly deflating.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't sleep well last night, it was too loud outside." Inky cocked her head in confusion, hostility forgotten.

"Loud? What do you mean?" Lemon Grass looked at her skeptically.

"You mean you didn't hear the howling?"

"Uh, no," I said, "We walked all the way from Equestria for over a day, as soon as we were in our house we fell dead asleep."

"Oh," he said, "well, y'know how there are wolves outside the walls?"

"Yeah, we fought one!" Inky smirked proudly as the butter colored unicorn gaped.

"No way, liar!"

"We did!" Lemon Grass looked to me.

"Didja really?" I let my mane fall over my face.

"Well, Inky was the only one who really fought," I said hesitantly.

"Yeah, but Punky was the one that made it leave us alone!" Lemon Grass gave me a quick admiring glance before turning to Inky to hear the whole story. As my sister excitedly told Lemon Grass about the bone wolf - in my mind I call it 'Jawbones', likely with far more affection than I should have for a ginormous predator that could easily have devoured me - I looked around in the sky, where a pink pegasus was flying under the clouds. As Inky told the story, Lemon Grass looked up at the pink flash and called out.

"Hey, Rainy! Come listen to this! These two took on a bone wolf!" The pink pegasus, Rainy, stopped mid-flight and dove down into a graceful landing.

"What?" The pegasus looked at my sister and me skeptically, then turned to Inky. "I don't believe you."

"It's true!" Inky smiled and told the story animatedly, mimicking the movements of Jawbones as he/she/it scared away the guards and batted away Inky. "...and Punky just stared the thing down until it left, bony tail between its legs!" Inky puled me into the story, staring at me until 'the thing' left. By now, there was a small audience of foals and younger ponies watching us with rapt attention, and I ducked my head in embarrassment.

"I didn't scare it off," I explained, "Jawbones coulda killed us if he wanted..."

"You _named_ it?" A teal filly stared with wide yellow eyes at me, her short stature adding to the aura of awe she gave off. One of the older ponies, a unicorn with a long chocolate mane, threw her head back and laughed.

"You must have some guts, foal," she said, "to be naming a bone wolf like a pet." I blushed harder.

"Not really," I said, my shy eyes focusing on my black hooves. "It just seemed appropriate..." The tall blue unicorn guffawed again.

"'It just seemed appropriate'! Oh, you're a funny one, huh?" She gave me a playful shove. "I like you two," she said with an air of finality. "My name's Coco, Coco Soy." The unicorn trotted off shaking her head with a chuckle. The remaining three ponies seemed equally impressed with us, but a bit closer to our age. The pink pegasus held out a hoof to shake.

"The name's Rainy Cloud. My family got exiled for trying to pull Nightmare Moon out of the moon," Rainy smirked proudly, like this was and impressive tale in and of itself.

"You know Nightmare Moon actually surrendered to Celestia, right?" Inky nodded as the other ponies gasped in surprise.

"I'm Candy Coat," the teal earth pony said. "My granny tried to poison Celestia. She put poison joke into the princess' tea." The other foals all laughed and joked about what would have happened to Celestia.

"I bet she would be able to do everything _but_ raise the sun!"

"No, she went _bald!_"

"She woulda shrunk to _this size!_" Lemon Grass held his hoof about two hoof prints above the ground, and everypony fell to the ground in riotous laughter.

"No no, she drank it all down," Candy insisted, "her horn went limp and her wings shriveled up like raisins!" The lot of us fell to the ground, teas streaming down our cheeks. "And her Equestrian voice went all _squeaky!_" As we laughed, we forgot all about the howling that Lemon Grass had described.

It's dark outside now, but I can hear a solitary howl just outside the walls. If I strain my ears to listen hard enough, I can hear the faintest whistle with every howl.

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**AN: Christmas break is coming up, and I'm not sure if that will mean more or less updates...**

**Also, this is the longest chapter I've put up so far! Yay me!**

**P.S.: Candy Coat, Lemon Grass, Coco Soy, and Rainy Cloud are all my little inventions, so please ask before using them! (As if this f****ic could ever get that influential, pony please.)**


	7. Howl

**Punky Print's Log: Day 7**

Jawbones howled all night last night. Are bone wolves nocturnal? I feel like they must be, or maybe they just don't sleep. I went to ask Brassheart today.

"I don't know, little one," he said. "Nopony outside the wall knows about the existence of bone wolves, and everypony here is too afraid to interact with them." He smiled, pride shining in his eyes. "Well, everypony but you and your sister." I smiled up at Brassheart. Nopony ever really seems impressed with me, but they've never had much of a reason to be. Even now, most ponies inside the walls don't believe Inky about what happened, and everypony on the walls just looks down on us. I know Brassheart does what he can, but one pony can only do so much.

Today, I went out to find out where Inky and I can find food. There's only one farm, the one owned by Lemon Grass' family, but most ponies have small gardens behind their houses. Inky spent all of today reading books on growing food in a garden, but we won't have anything to eat from it for months. Until then, I'll be taking odd jobs inside the walls. Hopefully most of them will be for Lemon Grass' family, because those will be the jobs that will get us the most food. I helped plant the corn seeds today, and I think I'm pretty good at these jobs. It makes me so happy to finally be useful.

Even though I'm useful, I still feel something gnawing away at my guts. Uselessness despite my jobs, and guilt. I feel guilty for not doing more with the knowledge stored inside that book. I know it was important to find out that the book was accurate before bringing it to public attention, but now it's back in the Manehattan Library, likely being taken by Celestia's guards and destroyed. Now nopony will know what happened to the Pony Council or Nightmare Moon, or anypony else who defied Celestia.

I hate that I always feel so useless. I was never a very clever pony, I'm not really proficient with my magic, and I'm too weak to stand up for myself. It felt so nice when Brassheart singled Inky Pie and me out as special. But my worry is that so have the other ponies. Rainy and Candy like us because they think we're like pony-tale heroes, Brassheart is just kind to everypony, Coco likes us because she thinks we're funny, and I don't really know why Lemon Grass likes us, but I know his family likes that I'll do a day's work for food for Inky and me. But everypony else, even other exiles, seem to avoid us, even actively abhor us.

I feel like if Lemon Grass' family ever turned us away, I couldn't get work anywhere else. Nopony else accepted my offer to do odd jobs, and looked at me like I was some kind of parasite. I didn't get it at first, not until I overheard two of the guards talking about us.

"Damn what the captain said," one hissed. "I'm sending a report to the Princess!"

"C'mon Dagger," said the other, "They're just a couple of foals, and since they only just arrived...well we both know we wouldn't wish their punishment, whatever it would be, on anypony else." The first guard, Dagger, paused. I pulled the hood of my cloak further over my muzzle and tried to make myself smal as I listened with baited breath.

"Fine, I won't send one. But if that wolf-whispering freak gets into any more trouble, I'm sending a report." As the two of them walked away on the wall, I ran back to my house.

Once inside, I searched the house for Cursive, who disappeared last night once Jawbones started howling. Eventually I found him underneath my bed, curled up in a nest of dust and hair. I placed a piece of paper just out from under my bed, along with ink.

"What's wrong, Cursive?" He tentatively slunk out from underneath my bed, and cautiously dipped his tail into the ink.

_The wolves are predators. We are small and weak, us two. _I smiled, touched by his concern for me as well as himself.

"Don't worry," I said, trying to be as comforting as possible, "the wolf who keeps howling doesn't want to hurt us."

_But, how can you know this?_

"Because I know which wolf is howling." Cursive cocked his head, confused. "The one howling outside the walls is the same one we encountered outside the wall on our way here."

_WHAT? What do you mean, I never saw this! _I chuckled as Cursive squeaked in alarm.

"I think you must have been asleep, but the wolf didn't hurt me."

_Asleep? How could I have possibly been asleep?_

"I'm not sure. But anyway, even if Jawbones wanted to hurt us, there's a wall keeping him out." Cursive squeaked again.

You named it?!

"Well, yes. It seemed appropriate." At this, Cursive began to squeak without stopping to write down his thoughts. Once he seemed to calm down, I brought up our dinner, a dandelion sandwich and a glass of milk for me, and the crusts of my sandwich for Cursive. We ate in silence in my room as Inky ate and read in hers. The sun went down and we each curled up in our beds.

I was just awoken by a howl accompanied by a faint whistle, just outside the walls. I turned to look out my window, the soft light of the moon tattooed with Nightmare Moon's face in the craters poured in and covered me like a second blanket. I sat up as Cursive cautiously crawled up onto my bed. I got out from under my covers and took a deep breath in during a pause in Jawbones' howling, and as the threatening noise picked up again, I threw back my head and howled along with him.

I don't know why, but I didn't stop. I pushed my lungs until they ached, and only then did I stop to breathe, only to start up again. Cursive scurried off my bed and stared, but I didn't stop. Eventually, he reluctantly moved back to his space beside me, wary, but aware that I was still safe. After the second howl, another voice inside the wall joined in as a light was lit inside Lemon Grass' farmhouse. Next, two more lights and two more voices joined in. Inky opened the door to my room and looked in. I patted an empty spot on my bed, which she sat down in. I turned on the light in my room, and Inky reared back her head and howled with me.

We must have sounded so strange, howling in the moonlight like that. Six ponies and a wolf whose jaw whistles when it breathes. But somehow, I didn't feel foolish at all.

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**AN: Was this terrible? I feel Like it was terrible. Let me know what you think was wrong with it, because I dunno. I just dunno.**

**On another note, I've only been getting one review every chapter. This would be okay, except it's from the same reader each time. I spent hours typing at least one thousand words for you guys to read, even two words would be greatly ****appreciated! I'll give you cake! Or a hug! Or an OC in the fic! Or something! (I'm lonely...)**


	8. Before I Go

**AN: Oh my gracious! Thank you to IShipItAllAndThenSome, koryandrs, and crossoverqueenlovesPnFMPL, my three beautiful ****reviewers who more than doubled the amount of reviews I had! Hugs and cookies and whatever you three sweet people want, thank you so much! TuT**

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**Punky Print's Log: Day 8**

I started today feeling so light, I could almost float. After we howled, Jawbones stopped and the world went quiet. Inky and I quickly fell asleep after that. This morning I woke up refreshed and pulled my cloak on, ready for another day working at the farm. I ran over and knocked at the door. Instead of Lemon Grass, who opened the door yesterday, it was his father who opened the door. I stared up into his stern face and shrank into my cloak. He stood in the doorway, blocking my way like one of the gatekeepers at the wall.

"Sir?"

"Punky," He started warily, the bags under his eyes making him look so tired, as if he couldn't sleep despite Jawbones' silence, "My family and I appreciate your hard work on the farm yesterday, but I think you should find new employment."

"What?" My voice cracked and broke, smaller than it had already been. He didn't blink.

"Yes, we no longer want your help. We want you away from Lemon Grass; you're trouble young filly, and I don't want my son involved. Good day," he said, and closed he door behind him before I recovered from being too stunned to speak. Once I did, I walked away from the large farmhouse's porch. I looked back and saw Lemon Grass through the one circular window of the top floor. Once we locked eyes he tilted back his head and howled, but I couldn't hear it through the window pane. Once he was done his sad eyes landed on me again, and I waved meekly before walking away to find new work.

I walked from the cliff bottom to the sealed opening in the wall, but I was lucky if anypony came out of their house to refuse me work face-to-face. Most simply closed their curtains and locked their doors with a _click_ that carried into the street. After walking to the cliff and back again, I found that still there was nopony who wanted anything to do with me. As I slowly trudged back to my house by the wall's opening, I looked up at the swollen gray clouds above the wall's reach that hides everything inside the wall from the dragons above. Absently, I wondered how the creatures never thought that this permanent cloud cover was strange or secretive. In a book I read once, dragons were described as completely consumed by greed. But still I thought it was strange that the dragons never thought of it, even once.

Finally, I reached the door to my house, my head hanging low in shame. When I opened the door, Inky was nowhere to be found. I went to the door of her room and looked inside. She was sitting on her bed, surrounded by worn old books. I took the hood off my head and stepped into her room. She looked up and smiled.

"Hey, Punky, guess what? You know that journal you're keeping? Well it turns out, pretty much all the other inhabitants inside the walls have, too." She held up the one she had been reading, labeled with the name _Hyacinth Bloom _written on it like the names on the sides of all the houses. "I guess I should write one, too, huh?" Inky looked a second time at me, and saw that something wasn't right. "Punky?" I sighed.

"Inky Pie, I... I've lost my job. Lemon Grass' dad, he... he said I was trouble, that he wanted me to stay away from his family." I sniffed back tears, and Inky rushed off of her bed and hugged me.

"It's okay, Punky. Don't worry, we'll think of something, and everything will be alright. I'll take care of it, I promise." I cried even harder at that.

Have I ever mentioned how I feel helpless? Well, this is why. Even when we were with our parents, it was never me who was expected to look after anypony. Mother always told Inky to watch out for me, never the other way around. Whenever mother and father fought, or Inky and mother, or even if somepony made a rude joke I didn't understand, I was always shielded, always told I didn't need to know. Maybe that's why I wanted to know the truth behind that book so badly. I wanted to know because I was tired of living in blind ignorance 'for my own good'! But now I've faced a princess and a bone wolf, and yet still I'm something delicate to be protected. No matter what anypony has said to me over the past few days, I am a weakling and a coward, and nothing I've done has changed that.

I hate this.

After I stopped crying, I went back to my room. Cursive was nowhere to be found again, perhaps he went out to find food for himself, seeing as I can't give him any anymore. He's still out now, in fact. It's well past noon now, and neither Inky nor myself have eaten since breakfast. My stomach just rumbled, it almost sounded like a growl. My stomach hurts from emptiness, but I've been hungry before, and in at least an hour I'll be so hungry that the hunger pains stop. It's strange, but I know it always happens eventually. I just have to wait.

Somepony's knocking at the door. I don't think Inky Pie heard, she gets so absorbed in her books. I'll go check, and who knows? Maybe somepony has decided to give me work after all.

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**AN: HAPPY NEW YEAR, MY LITTLE PONIES! So, who's at the door, do you think? Tell me what you think is going on, I want to know how your beautiful little minds work! (Okay, no lie, that sounded unnecessarily creepy.)**


	9. Captured

**Punky Print's Log: Day 9**

I don't know how to begin to explain the past day and a half, but I think it would help to start by writing that the ponies at my door were not there because they changed their mind about hiring me. In fact, they had never had a job for me in the first place.

The ponies at my door were guards from the wall, and there were four of them. Before I had time to question why they were there, my front hooves were chained together and I was dragged out into the street. I screamed, scared and surprised. Why were they doing this? I didn't know.

Inky heard me scream and ran out onto the porch, where four more guards ambushed her. Only one of her hooves was manacled before she began fighting back with a startled cry. A pegasus who had flown down from our roof was fought off first, Inky knocked him back when he tried to hold her down. Above the roof of even the large farmhouse, Rainy was grappling with her own attackers, two pegasai having flown up to her only to chain together her hooves and cling to them, letting their wings droop and turning themselves to dead weight as she struggled to stay in flight. Candy ran out into the street, panting as she watched the guards chasing her approach. When she looked up and saw Rainy, she cried out.

"No, Rainy!" Rainy looked down at her friend just as she was over taken and tackled by a guard. The guard kicked Candy, his armored horse shoes knocking her out. I screamed and kicked out blindly behind me, and the three of us still conscious struggled to reach our fallen friend. Rainy's wings faltered and she rocketed back towards the earth, the extra weight making her fall dangerously fast. When she landed, she fell on top of one guard, but the other landed on her. Inky and I screamed and begged for someone to help her.

"Look at her wings," I cried, "she's hurt! Please, why won't somebody help her, she's hurt!" The guards never spoke, and never looked at anything but their prey. Inky bit deep into the leg of one guard, only to have another put a muzzle on her. In the chaos I heard somepony swear, when I turned to see who it was I saw Coco trying to teleport away from the guards who had captured her. When she saw us she gave up attempting magic she didn't know and buried her horn into a guard's eye. I flinched as the guard cried out in pain and another kicked Coco in the head. Inky cried out savagely behind her muzzle and broke away from her guards, her earth pony strength too much for the pegasai and unicorns guarding her. She ran out to try to help get my guards away from me.

"No! Inky, you have to run!" By then I was crying, and the guards that had captured me were pulling me closer to the wall, which was slowly being opened behind me. "Get Lemon Grass and run! Please!" Inky refused to listen, instead barreling through the guards who tried to intercept her. Almost in response to what I'd said, an earth pony guard walked calmly down the street from the direction of the farm house with Lemon Grass draped over his back, his hooves manacled together. "No..."

Inky was gaining on the guards dragging me away, when one of them - a unicorn - threw a rock the size of my hoof squarely at her head. She went down, drops of blood in her mane and racing down her face. A guard manacled her other front hoof and began dragging her towards the wall as well. I didn't know why we were being taken out, but it didn't matter. Around me my friends and family were being dragged through the dirt, unconscious.

"No..." Rainy's wings were bent at odd angles, and a part of Coco's horn had broken off inside the eye of the pony she had attacked. Candy's eyes opened lazily, one opening at a time. As she raised her head to take in her surroundings, the unicorn who felled my sister raised a rock above her head. A rush of energy coursed through my veins. It moved through my blood and bones until it burst into the world around me. "_Get away from them!_"

Green magic knocked back the guards, even the ones carrying my friends on their backs were blown away. My friends landed softly on the ground, and the blood sliding down their faces evaporated. Rainy's crooked wings realigned themselves with a series of sickening _crack!_ noises. The windows of the houses around us shattered and when I looked down, I was floating above the ground.

There was a sharp pain in the side of my head, and I fell to the ground. Warm liquid trickled down my face as my vision blurred. The green magic was gone, and I could hear some guards getting back up in the distance. As darkness crept into my vision, the last thing I saw was a blurry gray pegasus guard, smirking triumphantly down at me.

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**AN: Oh my gosh, I'm so evil! (Muahahaha!) This cliffhanger though. It was either making this chapter _very_ long, or splitting it into shorter parts. :3 What's gonna happen now?! Tell me what you think of my horrendous cliffy, please!**


	10. The Pack

**AN: I'm baaaack! Aren't you relieved that the cliffy is over? Then thank my sister, IShipItAllAndThenSome! She bothered me until I agreed to get to work on this not even half an hour after the last update! So enjoy the fruits of my endless labour, and please review!**

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**Punky Print's Log: Day 9, part II**

When I came to, I was in the Badlands outside the wall. When I looked up I squinted and shielded my eyes against the sun, which didn't beat down nearly as hard inside the wall. When I raised my hoof, I noticed that my shackles were still securely fastened around my forelegs. I tried to stand, but my legs wobbled and I ended up hitting the ground with a _thump!_ Lemon Grass, who was shackled to my left hindleg by his right one, looked over and lit up when he saw that I was awake.

"Inky," he called to my sister, who was shackled to Rainy on my far right, "she's okay!" I rubbed my aching head, only to have flakes of dried blood come off on my hoof. "Er... well, she's awake." The five ponies I was shackled to crowded around me, each still in chains.

"Punky, can you stand?" Inky held out her hoof, which I took gratefully as I tried to stand again. This time I succeeded, to the relief of my friends. "What all do you remember?"

"Ugh... the gray pegasus... he kicked me," I said, still woozy. "D'you... are you guys hurt?" They shook their heads, and when I looked closely at Coco's horn I saw that it was in one whole piece on her forehead. I smiled. "Good. S'good." My eyes drifted closed one at a time, but somepony nudged me awake.

"Punky, do you remember what happened before you got kicked?" I squinted down at Candy, who looked both worried and excited. I nodded slowly.

"The... th'rock, and then-"

"-And then your magic?" I cocked my head.

"That was me?" She nodded. "So I... healed you guys?" They all nodded. "Even Rainy's jacked up wings," I asked disbelievingly. I have never studied healing spells, or used my magic to the extent that I, apparently, did when my friends were injured. Rainy laughed.

"Yep! They're good as new," she said happily before she tried to take off and prove it. However, she was still chained to the rest of us, so she stayed grounded.

"So, do you know why they left us out here?" My friends all looked to me.

"Um, no. Why do you think I would know?"

"Well," Lemon Grass started, "they said they were taking the 'wolf pony and her friends' before they knocked me out, so since that's you, we figured you'd know." I stared down at my hooves, scraping at the dirt guiltily.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know why they nabbed you." I hung my head remorsefully. I was the one clue as to why my friends and family were attacked, and I was of no help in figuring out what the guards had wanted with them.

"That's okay," Candy said, her voice shaking with a fear that, at the time, none of us understood yet, "we've got a bigger problem." The rest of us turned to see what Candy was so afraid of, and the six of us quickly backed up into the great stone wall behind us almost collectively. In the distance there was a great, snarling storm of bones and bloody fur, heading straight for us.

"Punky?"

"Yes, Lemon Grass?"

"I don't mean to scare you," he said, clearly trying to mask his fear with a thin layer of calm, "but I think now would be a good time to pull some wolf-taming tricks," he took a large gulp of air as the smell of blood hit us like the wall we were quickly becoming cornered against, "before we get torn apart or something." I stepped forward from the wall, staring intently at the thundering pack of wolves. At the front of the snarling mass, I made out the distinct shape of an exposed jawbone and smiled, much to the confusion of my friends. I sat down in front of my friends and turned to them.

"Stay behind me," I said, "and sit down." Inky Pie did as I said, but everypony else looked at me like I was crazy.

"What?"

"Do you trust me?" The four of them exchanged a brief nervous glance.

"Yes."

"Then sit down." They did. "Rainy, keep your wings open but not out, and no matter what, nopony attack." They sat down, the chains attaching us to each other rattling as they shook. When the pack finally arrived, Jawbones stepped towards us and sniffed me. Then, much to the shock of my friends, and even me a little bit, his large pink tongue darted out to lick me. I laughed, the strange feeling of his giant tongue had to either be amusing or terrifying, and I couldn't bring myself to be afraid of him. Jawbones turned back to the pack of wolves behind him and a low rumbling noise rose out of his chest. I stood and met with no attacks, and so behind me my friends warily stood as well. Jawbones nuzzled me, so I tried to pet him. However, when I raised one front hoof too far, the other one was pulled out from under me by the shackles. Jawbones caught me on his muzzle, which was only a bit smaller than my torso, and I smiled.

"Well, I guess I can't move these much," I said, waving my front hooves and rattling the chains. Once my hooves were on the ground again, Jawbones placed his bony front paw on top of the chain and shifted his weight, demolishing the links of the chain underneath. "Oh. Thank you." I reached up and wrapped my front legs around his surprisingly soft furry neck. Once I let go, he proceeded to break each other chain and slide his muzzle under my stomach. He tilted his head back and I slid down the soft brown fur of his neck onto his back. I laughed and stared down at my friends, who looked tiny from Jawbones' height. Rainy, freed from the chains that kept her from flying, took Candy on her back and flew up beside Jawbones and I as the pack began to move.

Inky, Coco and Lemon Grass ran beside Jawbones, slowly being left behind. I lifted them up as best I could with my magic until it gave me a headache. Noticing my discomfort, Jawbones backed up until he was directly below them. I lowered them onto his back, and he broke back into a run. I looked over at Inky, who was laid across Jawbones' back beside me and smiled.

"Where are we going," Coco shouted at me over the sound of the wind whipping by.

"I have no idea!" I laughed after I said this, the feeling of freedom under the unshielded sun on this warm day making me happier than I've ever been. The pack ran until nightfall, when they stopped inside of a vast cave that comfortably held all the wolves and us ponies. When the moon came up, the pack gathered at the mouth of the cave and faced the pale sphere. Completely synchronized, the wolves howled up at the moon. Between breaths, Jawbones nudged me, urging me to follow the pack's lead. I did, along with my friends. Halfway between breathing in and running out of air, my stomach growled. The large wolf beside me cocked his head curiously.

"Eh heh...sorry," I said sheepishly. Jawbones snorted and led me away to where a surprising patch of wildflowers were growing out of the rust orange dirt. I pulled out a clump and carried them back to the cave with my magic. "So, what do you bone wolves eat?" Jawbones licked his nose. "...Do you eat?" I don't think they do. The whole time we stayed with the wolves, I never saw them eat anything, plant or animal. After we ate the wildflowers, my friends and I curled up by Jawbones as we slept. I woke back up in the middle of the night though, to see Lemon Grass by the mouth of the cave.

"Can't sleep?" He turned to me as I sat down by him, and shook his head.

"My parents... when the guards came to take me, they tried to stop him. He knocked them aside, and when he knocked me out, they still weren't awake." A tear caught the moonlight as it slid down his cheek. I put a hoof around him and he turned to me. "I know they weren't very nice the last time they saw you," he said, "and that they drove you away. But they're good ponies. They only wanted to protect me! They just-"

"It's okay," I said, trying to be reassuring, "I know."

This morning, I woke up to find Lemon Grass sleeping with his head resting on my back. As the sun warmed our faces, I saw a brown speck flying off in the distance. Carefully, I removed myself from underneath my friend and left the cave to find more wildflowers. I had to walk for longer than I had to the night before, but I found more than enough to feed us all for the rest of the day. I picked the flowers out of the rocky dirt and trotted back to the cave. When I got there, the wolves were blocking the mouth of the cave, keeping my friends behind them and away from the perceived danger. The fur of the wolves stood on end as they snarled, teeth barred. When he spotted me, Jawbones leapt from the solid wall of wolves and picked my up with his teeth.

"Put her down!" Brassheart flew at Jawbones, who snarled at the pegasus. Seemingly undaunted, Brassheart snarled right back at him.

"Wait!" Jawbones and Brassheart broke their stare down to look to me. "He's not trying to hurt me," I said. To whom exactly, I'm not sure. However, both the wolf and the pegasus backed down. Carefully, Jawbones placed me on the ground. "See? No teeth marks," I said to Brassheart. He slowly landed and folded in his wings. "Mr. Brassheart, what are you doing here?"

"We were thrown out of the wall," Inky said disdainfully, "didn't you know?"

"No," Brassheart said, "I went to go see my wife and son in Manehattan, I just got back today. When I heard you six were out here on your own, I came to find you as fast as I could." Inky's judgemental stare quickly melted away at the obvious concern the pegasus stallion had for us. "Although, I suppose you were really alone at all," he said. He turned back to Jawbones and nodded. "Thank you for taking care of these six," he said, "but their families are probably missing them, so I'm here to take them home." Jawbones nudged me towards Brassheart, and the wall of wolves dissolved to let Brassheart collect us. The wolves warily watched him, each red pupil trained on him. As the seven of us walked away, I turned back to the pack and waved with a smile.

"Until the next time!" Jawbones nodded, and I think maybe he smiled. It was hard to tell, seeing as he had no jaw. I ran up to catch up to Brassheart and the others, who were already asking questions about Brassheart's life outside of the wall.

"What's your son like," Lemon Grass asked. Seeing as all of his friends are fillies, I think maybe he wanted to know another colt, even one he hadn't met.

"Well," Brassheart said, "I think he's about your age. You wouldn't know it looking at him though," he chuckled fondly. "He's a short little fella."

"Is he a pegasus, like you?" Rainy flew up by Brassheart's face, giddy for an answer.

"Well, yes. My wife is, too."

"Is she pretty?"

"The prettiest," Brassheart said, completely sure.

"Is she nice?"

"Of course."

"What does she do?"

"She races in the Wonderbolts." Six pairs of eyes became very, very wide at that.

"Oh!Oh! What're those?" Brassheart stopped for a moment, sadness in his eyes when he remembered that this had been most of the group of ponies' first time outside of the wall.

"Well, they're the fastest, most graceful flyers in all the land, and they perform fantastic flying feats for all of ponykind to see." Rainy's eyes got particularly wide at that.

"Someday," she said dreamily, "I'm gonna be a Wonderbolt." When we got to the gate of the wall, the reluctance of the guards opening it could be felt in every creak of the mechanism. As my friends rushed back to their families, I turned to Brassheart.

"Your family sounds lovely. I wish we could meet them." Brassheart smiled sadly at that.

"A part of me wishes that too, Punky," he said, "but at the same time, I hope you never do."

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**AN: Grah, this feels so LONG! Don't expect this to be normal, cuz it won't be! Fair warning! I love writing parental characters like Jawbones and Brassheart were in this chapter. There are so few like them in real life... :'(**

**Also, I saw Frozen today! I loved it! I cried shamelessly!**


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